Joyce Jillson, 58, astrologer linked to Reagans, Fox studios
LOS ANGELES -- Joyce Jillson, author of a nationally syndicated astrology column who divined the stars on behalf a Hollywood movie studio and claimed to have advised the Reagan White House, died Oct. 1 at Cedars Sinai Medical Center of kidney failure. She was 58.
Her daily astrology column appeared in nearly 200 newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and the New York Daily News.
As the official astrologer for 20th Century Fox Studios, Ms. Jillson consulted on the best opening days for Fox movies. She picked the opening date for 1977's "Star Wars" -- the second-highest grossing movie of all time.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Ms. Jillson made numerous appearances on television and radio shows. Along with Hollywood clients, she also made astrological forecasts for
In 1988, Ms. Jillson was linked to the Reagan White House after former chief of staff Donald T. Regan wrote in a book that Nancy Reagan consulted astrologers.
Ms. Jillson contended that she advised Reagan campaign aides to select George H.W. Bush as Reagan's running mate in 1980. She also said she "spent a lot of time" at the White House after the March 1981 assassination attempt on the president.
Born and raised in Cranston, R.I., Ms. Jillson attended Boston University on an opera scholarship and later moved to New York to begin a stage career.
She won an award as outstanding Broadway newcomer and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a television career.
She married Joseph Gallagher in 1969, and they divorced in 1981.
"She radiated strength and optimism," Gallagher said Tuesday.
Ms. Jillson was a Capricorn, but she regarded herself as a Libra, since most of her astrological planets were aligned with that sign, Gallagher said. "She had a complex and very intellectual approach to astrology," he said.
Ms. Jillson also leaves her mother, Beatrice H. Twitchell.
Funeral services will be private.
